Walnut cracker



0d. 16, 1951 DALE 2,571,214

WALNUT CRACKER Filed April 7, 1950 INVENTOR. Hana/P flaw 044:

Patented Oct. 16, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I WALNUT CRACKER Homer Dean Dale, Santa Rosa, Calif.

Application April 7, 1950, Serial No. 154,634

1 Claim. (01. 14616) My present invention relates to nut crackers and more particularly to walnut crackers.

It is a well known fact among all walnut growers that it is very difiicult to crack walnuts and recover the meats intact.

A great deal of time and thousands of dollars have been spent in the endeavor to discover some means to accomplish this end without having twenty to thirty percent of the meats broken.

In the sale of packaged walnut meats the unvers-al demand is for half meats. Naturally packaged Walnut meats bring the top prices and broken meats although of the same quality etc., can only be sold to the bakeries, candy makers, etc.

Many small producers crack their own walnuts by hand, using a common hammer or similar tool which produces a large percentage of broken meats. Large producers use power machinery which also produces large percentages of broken meats.

My present device as shown in the drawin s is a simple machine for use by the small producer. The critical portions of the cracker are the jaw portions which may be adapted for automatic machines as well as for the hand type shown in the accompanying drawings.

My present invention with respect to the jaw portions is specifically directed to the elongated type of walnut known as the Franchette type well known and widely produced in the State of California.

The principal object of my invention is to produce an improved walnut cracker.

Another object is to produce an improved walnut cracker which is simple of construction and. efficient in operation Another object is to produce an improved walnut cracker which may be adapted to vertical, horizontal or rotary movement by the hand of the operator either right or left-hand.

Still another object is to produce an improved walnut cracker jaw set which may be used in other types of nut cracking mechanisms or which may be substituted for other type jaws, etc.

Other objects and novel features comprising the construction and operation of my invention will be more apparent as the description of the same progresses.

In the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the device:

Fig. 1 is a partial side elevation and central vertical cross-section a portion of the crank arm being cut out for convenience;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation,

Fig. 3 is a plan cross-section taken on the line 33 of Fig. l.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, l0 indicates a base having a superstructure portion H within the top of which is journalled a shaft [2. The superstructure member II is recessed at l3 from the back to a vertical bore I4. Within the bore I4 is slidably mounted a rack rod l5. One side of the rod I6 is provided with a rack of gear teeth slotted transversely across the rod, as shown in Figure 1. On the shaft [2 is fixed my means of a special set-screw 16 a segmental gear member I! the teeth of which are engaged with the teeth of the rack portion of the rod I5. On one end of the shaft I2 is located a collar member I8 held in place by means of a set screw H). The opposite end of shaft 12 is provided with a crank arm hub 20 and held in place by a second special set-screw 21. It will thus be seen that the segmental gear I! may be set on the shaft l2 in a free manner so that the sides of the gear are not subject to end thrust by the shaft I2 should it be desired to mount the cracker in any position on a wall, etc. The arm portion 22 of the device may be made as long as desired and is provided at its end with a handle 23.

It will thus be seen that I may reverse the operating arm 22 from one side of the machine to -the other or I may set it at any angle with respect to the segmental gear I1.

On the lower end of the rod I4 is a shouldered portion with a reduced threaded end 25 which is threaded into a, receptacle member 26 within which is mounted a rubber cup member 21; This cup member 21 is composed of a resilient material such as rubber but hard enough to resist several pounds pressure without excessive distortion. This cup 21 is recessed at 28 in a curved cavity somewhat of the contour of the pointed end of a walnut shell. The lower rim 29 of the cup member 21 is curved as shown in Fig. 1 and engages the upper end of a walnut, as shown in dot-and-dash lines, when the rod 22 is depressed by the handle 23.

The bottom or anvil portion of the jaws is indicated at 30 and has a flanged portion 3| mounted in a hole 32 provided in the base [0. This anvil portion 30 is hollow having an internal opening '33. The upper edge of the opening is beveled at 35 and is provided with a curved lip 36. The size of the opening 33 is quite critical as well as the beveled and rounded lip. In actual practice it has been found that the opening 33 must be approximately five-eighths of an inch in diameter to perform properly.

When a wahiut such as shown at 4|] is placed stem end down on the anvil 35 and the upper resilient jaw cup rim 29 brought into engagement under pressure with the Walnut 4!] the bottom of the shell of the walnut shatters but does not break out or protrude itself into the opening 33 of the anvil. The rest of the shell of the walnut shatters outwardly and can be peeled oil of the meatleaving the meat whole. It is immaterial whether or not it is a large, medium or small walnutthe effect is the same. However, if the opening 33 is one-sixteenth of an inch larger or smaller in diameter the result will be different and the bottom of the walnut will be jammed into the opening 33 and the walnut meat will be broken. Also the sides of the shell will not burst outwardly free from the meat of the nut. The resilient cup member 21 assists in distributing the crushing load evenly over the entire walnut shell.

'The results obtained with this tool are very close to one hundred percent efficiency. In the hands of an experienced operator the broken meats resulting from cracking fifty pounds of walnuts would not exceed a few ounces. An inexperienced operator would crack better than ninety-five percent of a given amount of walnuts without damaging the meats.

It is to be understood that I may vary the size and proportions of the disclosed press and make use of equivalent parts within wide latitude while still remaining within the spirit of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

A pair of jaw members for cracking Franchette type walnuts comprisin an upper member and a lower member, the said upper member having a resilient engaging annular ring-like surface of approximately five-eighths of an inch in diameter and engaging around the pointed end of the nut, the lower member engaging the base of said walnut the engaging surface being a contact surface not less than five-eighths of an inch in diameter and not greater than three-fourths of an inch in diameter.

HOMER DEAN DALE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 542,104 Prade July 2, 1895 1,108,920 May Sept. 1, 1914 1,556,424 Cook Oct. 6, 1925 2,349,380 Rietz May 23, 1944 

